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Concept
Electrophilic halogenation
Summary
In organic chemistry, an electrophilic aromatic halogenation is a type of electrophilic aromatic substitution. This organic reaction is typical of aromatic compounds and a very useful method for adding substituents to an aromatic system.
A few types of aromatic compounds, such as phenol, will react without a catalyst, but for typical benzene derivatives with less reactive substrates, a Lewis acid is required as a catalyst. Typical Lewis acid catalysts include , , and . These work by forming a highly electrophilic complex which is attacked by the benzene ring.
The reaction mechanism for chlorination of benzene is the same as bromination of benzene. Iron(III) bromide and iron(III) chloride become inactivated if they react with water, including moisture in the air. Therefore, they are generated by adding iron filings to bromine or chlorine. Here is the mechanism of this reaction:
The mechanism for iodination is slightly different: iodine (I2) is treated with an oxidizing agent such as nitric acid to obtain the electrophilic iodine ("I+", probably IONO2). Other conditions for iodination include I2, HIO3, H2SO4, and N-iodosuccinimide, H2SO4. These conditions are successful for highly deactivated arenes, including nitroaromatics.
In a series of studies, the powerful reagent obtained by using a mixture of iodine and potassium iodate dissolved in concentrated sulfuric acid was used. Here the iodinating agent is the triiodine cation I3+ and the base is HSO4−. In these studies both the kinetics of the reaction and the preparative conditions for the iodination of strongly deactivated compounds, such as benzoic acid and 3-nitrobenzotrifluoride, were investigated.
While electrophilic fluorination is possible with F2/N2 (10%), XeF2, or N-F reagents like Selectfluor, these methods are seldom used, due to the formation of isomeric mixtures and polyfluorination products. Although mixtures also form in the case of other aromatic halogenations, fluoroaromatics are often extremely challenging to separate from their nonfluorinated, polyfluorinated, and/or isomeric counterparts.
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